1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charging system for vehicles and, more specifically, to using an onboard battery for running power.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles (HVs) capable of using an onboard battery for running power have attracted attention from the viewpoint of protection of the global environment through reduction in a carbon-dioxide (CO2) emission, and have been used in practice. Recently, development is under way of a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV) whose battery can be charged not only with the rotation of an engine made while the vehicle is running, but from a household power supply or the like at night or during vehicle down-time while the vehicle is not running. As PHVs gain popularity, facilities for charging the onboard battery will be treated more and more seriously.
In relation to rental cars that use battery power for a purpose other than running, a technology using a locking mechanism that locks the connection of a charging cord or charging cable to a charging socket of a vehicle or vehicle-side receptacle, and an IC card for a rental car to prevent the charging cord from coming off during charging and also prevent the use of a charging system by others has been proposed in JP-A-10-262303.
According to JP-A-10-262303, an identification code assigned to the IC card can be used to prevent the breakage of the charging cord and the unauthorized use of the charging system. However, assuming that the PHV and others prevail as private cars, and nighttime charging to be performed using the household power supply becomes a matter of common practice, such an incident that the charging cord is stolen, a foreign matter or the like is inserted into the charging socket, or any other component is tampered may presumably take place. If a dedicated IC card is employed in order to prevent the incident, an owner of a vehicle or an occupant would have to perform a complex manipulation and incur an extra cost.